4/1/2004
By Nick D'Alto
An oral history project preserves the treasures in ordinary lives.
A great-great-grandmother describes a family Christmas from 1924. A mild-mannered father remembers his brush with fame — delivering a baby on a subway train. And a veteran of World War II recalls his astonishing luck, far from home and a lifetime ago.
These are just a few of the stories being preserved by StoryCorps, an oral history project dedicated to helping Americans record the memories of everyday people. Modeled after the Works Progress Administration programs that chronicled oral histories during the Great Depression, StoryCorps is the brainchild of nonprofit documentary filmmaker Dave Isay. His motivation? Create an enduring record of"everyday" history — those often-fascinating vignettes of daily life that rarely make it into the history books.
With funding from corporations and foundations, Isay is building StoryBooths — soundproof, broadcast-quality recording studios — in public places such as airports, train stations and community centers across rhe country. Anyone who cares about the past can reserve a 40-minute session in a StoryBooth and use the studio equipment to record oral history interviews, all for $10.